EGGS AS FOOD. 89 
From this primitive method to the elaborate 
concoctions of modern cooks (who even use the 
perfumes of flowers as flavors for omelets and 
the like), there is a great advance. For these 
variations, we are indebted to the experiments 
of French cooks, who by changes of sauces and 
seasoning could serve eggs in a different fashion 
every day in the year. 
“Though many, I own, are the evils they’ve 
brought us, 
Though royalty’s there on her very last legs, 
Yet who can help loving the land that has 
taught us, 
Six hundred and eighty-five ways to dress eggs ? 
Moore. 
The Romans began their ccena, or supper, the 
distinctively family meal, with eggs as a relish, 
and closed with fruit. Horace therefore uses 
the phrase, “Ad ovo usque ad mala” (from the 
egg to the apples), to signify from the begin- 
ning to the end of the feast. 
